MULTI USER DATABASE

[Guest]

I have created a rather large database that has numerous queries, forms, tables and reports. My employer now wants multiple people to have access to it. My concern is conflicts in the tables and forms. Each of my tables are set up with an automatic reference number as the primary key. Is this enough to prevent conflicts? What is the best way to convert this database so that it can handle mutiple users. Will my forms allow mutiple users at one time? What is the best way to convert this database so that it can handle mutiple users. It is rather large to start over

I do have this database on a network, and there are 3 of us ising it now, but it is easy for us not to be in it at the same time. According to my employer there could be more than one userin the system using the same function.

Any help is appreciated, Thanks

 

[Kevin3NF]

Split the DB. Create a copy to learn on, and go to Tools>>Database
Utilities>>Database Splitter and follow the wizard.

What you will wind up with is 2 databases. One will contain all of the
tables and will reside on the server. The other will contain everything
else (queries, forms, etc) and should reside on each users local hard drive.
This one will have links back to the tables on the server.

--
Kevin Hill
President
3NF Consulting

www.3nf-inc.com/NewsGroups.htm

I have created a rather large database that has numerous queries, forms,

tables and reports. My employer now wants multiple people to have access to
it. My concern is conflicts in the tables and forms. Each of my tables are
set up with an automatic reference number as the primary key. Is this
enough to prevent conflicts? What is the best way to convert this database
so that it can handle mutiple users. Will my forms allow mutiple users at
one time? What is the best way to convert this database so that it can
handle mutiple users. It is rather large to start over.

I do have this database on a network, and there are 3 of us ising it now,

but it is easy for us not to be in it at the same time. According to my
employer there could be more than one userin the system using the same
function.

 

[Guest]

I actually just went through this process. I took an advanced Access class last week (at New Horizon's Learning Centers -- no this is not a plug, just a FYI since I had a hard time finding a place to get advanced Access training) and found out that if you split your database (using the Database Splitter Wizard in the Tools, Utilities menu - SAVE A COPY FIRST BEFORE YOU TRY TO SPLIT IT!!!), with the tables residing on the shared drive and the newly created "front end" residing on each of the individual users' PCs, up to 255 users can use the file at once. We used to all use the same one file and would occasionally be "locked out." Once you split the database, though, it decreases the usage for the file by moving the usage (forms, queries, reports, etc) onto the individual PCs, with only the tables residing on the shared drive. I'm not sure how good the Access help is on this topic, but at least this should give you the information to try to get more info if you need it

Good luck!

 

[Kevin Sprinkel]

Cindy,

I'm about to do the same thing, and so have researched
this issue a little bit. But I don't have direct
experience yet, so take my offering with a proper bit of
salt.

Access is multi-user out-of-the-box. You do, however,
have options in how Access locks and refreshes records. I
strongly encourage you to read a good source on this
topic, such as Getz, Litwin, et al's Access Developer's
Handbook.

I think the default is page locking, which means that
Access will lock more than a single record at a time. At
some level of user access, the high frequency of
being "shutout" leads you to consider other strategies.
You will probably want to develop your own error-handling
procedures for locking errors, e.g, letting your users
know who has locked the record.

You should split the tables from everything else, install
the data on the server, and copies of everything else on
each machine. Then Link (not import) the back-end tables
in.

The other issue we, and perhaps you, are going to face is
that not all PC's have a purchased copy of Access. We
plan therefore to purchase or upgrade to the Developer
Edition which will allow us to create a runtime version of
the application that anyone can run. The downside there
is that we will have to develop custom toolbars to provide
the functionality our users need.

Good luck with your project.

HTH
Kevin Sprinkel

-----Original Message-----
I have created a rather large database that has numerous

queries, forms, tables and reports. My employer now wants
multiple people to have access to it. My concern is
conflicts in the tables and forms. Each of my tables are
set up with an automatic reference number as the primary
key. Is this enough to prevent conflicts? What is the
best way to convert this database so that it can handle
mutiple users. Will my forms allow mutiple users at one
time? What is the best way to convert this database so
that it can handle mutiple users. It is rather large to
start over.

I do have this database on a network, and there are 3 of

us ising it now, but it is easy for us not to be in it at
the same time. According to my employer there could be
more than one userin the system using the same function.